The present invention relates to monitoring conditions of a vehicle. It finds particular application in conjunction with monitoring tire conditions of a vehicle and will be described with particular reference thereto. It will be appreciated, however, that the invention is also amenable to other applications.
It is becoming more common in modern motor vehicles to monitor statuses of various vehicle systems. For example, a tire pressure monitoring system (TPMS) monitors various conditions (e.g., inflation pressure, temperature, etc) for tires on the vehicle. If any of the conditions becomes outside of a predetermined range, corrective actions may be taken to address the out-of-range condition. Maintaining the correct tire conditions helps maintain safe, efficient, and economical operation of the vehicle. Abnormal tire conditions may result in excessive tire wear, blow-outs, and poor fuel mileage.
Current TPMS's typically require multiple antennae placed in various locations on the vehicle. The antennae receive radio-frequency (RF) signals transmitted from different sensors associated with respective tires on the vehicle. The placement and required number of the antennae in current TPMS's results in at least some of the antennae unprotected from environmental conditions. For example, some TPMS's currently include a stand-alone antenna mounted on an unprotected front axle.
The present invention provides a new and improved apparatus and method which addresses the above-referenced problems.